Afton Chemical (NewMarket Corp's petroleum additives segment) reported last Tuesday that sales for this years second quarter were $617.5 million compared to sales for the same period last year of $581.3 million, with shipments up a strong 7.2% to record levels. Operating profit reached $109.1 million, an 11.6% improvement over second quarter operating profit last year of $97.8 million. For the first half of this year, petroleum additives operating profit was $205.3 million compared to operating profit for the same period last year of $199.8 million. Sales for the first half of this year were $1.2 billion compared to sales in the first half of last year of $1.1 billion, with shipments up 6.6%.
In late June, the company broke ground on the site of its previously announced manufacturing facility in Jurong Island, Singapore with an initial investment of over $100 million, demonstrating Afton Chemicals commitment to serving the Asia Pacific and Middle East markets. The plant is expected to become operational during the fourth quarter of 2015.
Afton Chemical's parent company, NewMarket Corporation, reported net income for the second quarter of 2014 of $66.8 million compared to net income of $64.0 million for the second quarter of 2013. For the first half of 2014, net income was $124.3 million compared to net income of $131.8 million for the first half of last year.
